Sports cap made with strategically placed elastic and non-elastic materials

ABSTRACT

A size adjustable sports cap having a crown constructed from a plurality of triangularly shaped panels that includes side panels that are made from an elastic material and are expandable and contractible. The size adjustable sports cap further includes front and back panels that are made from more sturdy or rigid, non-expandable or essentially non-expandable materials. One of the important aspects of the invention is that there is little or no deformation of the crown of the cap and the construction allows for a more natural wearing fit of the sports cap.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present Utility patent application claims priority benefit of the U.S. provisional application for patent Ser. No. 62/247,464 filed on Oct. 28, 2015 entitled “Recap,” the entire contents of which are hereby fully incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to apparel. The invention concerns, more particularly, headwear, such as an advertising and sports wearing ball cap, having strategically placed elastic material that is stretchable and accommodates individuals with various head dimensions and non-elastic materials that is less stretchable and that accommodates advertisement placement needs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The primary elements of a standard sports cap include a crown and visor. The crown is conventionally configured from multiple panels that are sewn together to form a generally hemispherical, close-fitting covering for a head of a wearer. The visor extends in an outward direction from a front area of the crown to provide the face and eyes with shade. A wide range of materials, natural or synthetic, may be used to form a sports cap.

Numerous types of caps are currently available, some are adjustable in order to fit a variety of head sizes. One of the more common caps generally includes a cut-out or gap in the back with a band that can be adjusted using a plurality of slots which are engagable with one of a plurality of protuberances. Alternatively, caps have been developed which utilize uniaxially stretchable fabrics. However, these caps and hats have not been altogether desirable from the aspect of being comfortably fittable while also maintaining the integrity of the crown. That is to say, many of these caps, adjustable or stretchable, are sizeable using either a central pivot point, e.g. the caps that use the engagable band, or using unevenly distributed elastic materials along a lower periphery of a ball caps crown, e.g in the case of caps using uniaxially stretchable fabrics. There are two major issues with these types of ball caps. In each case, the ball cap, when adjusted or stretched to fit a user's head, is adjusted or stretched in a non-uniform way and when adjusted or stretched often results a ball cap that may be uncomfortable to wear and a ball cap with a crown that is deformed in a way that at minimum is not desirable to wear, especially after extended use, and adversely effects any messages or advertisements that the user or company/manufacture of the ball cap may wish to convey.

Accordingly, there is a need for a sports cap that provides superior fit and adjustability to caps in the prior art, and also provides for the possibility of making the front portion, back portion and side portion of the cap of a different materials so as to provide extra comfort for the wearer, as well as a better fit and better use of the different materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a ball cap that includes strategically placed elastic panels along a crown of a ball cap and adjacent non-elastic or essentially non-elastic panels along the crown of the ball cap that provides for an adjustment system that accommodates various head dimensions and provides for optimum use of the crown for commercial advertisements.

In an embodiment, the ball cap includes a crown constructed of a plurality of triangularly shaped panels which are stitched together so that the apex of each of the triangular panels meet at a common top point of the cap. Frequently, a button may be provided at this top point where the individual panels meet. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a side panel on each side of the crown, or more specifically the panels on the side of a wearer's head and above the wearer's ears, are formed of a stretchable material or elastic material and panels positioned in front and back of the ball cap are made from heavier materials that may be either made from non-elastic or essentially non-elastic materials.

This invention possesses many other advantages and has other purposes which may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of the forms in which it may be embodied. They will now be described in detail for purposes of illustrating the general principles of the invention. However, it is to be understood that the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings are not to be taken in a limiting sense.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify various aspects of some example embodiments of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawing. It is appreciated that the drawing depicts only illustrated embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sports cap constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that illustrate the embodiments of the present invention. Other embodiments are possible and modifications may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not meant to limit the invention. Rather the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

The cap was originally designed to prevent sunlight and rain from obscuring the vision of a sports player. Like other specialized athletic equipment, the original cap was used exclusively in the course of competition. For aesthetic purposes, the cap included indicia and a color scheme consistent with the uniform of an individual team. The following discussion and accompanying figure disclose an article of size adjustable sports cap 100 having a stretchable configuration in accordance with the present invention. Size adjustable sports cap 100 is disclosed as having the structure of a baseball cap. The concepts and features of size adjustable sports cap 100 that are disclosed in the following discussion may, however, be applied to a wide range of size adjustable sports cap types to impart a stretchable configuration that accommodates individuals with various head dimensions.

Size adjustable sports cap 100 is depicted in FIG. 1 and includes two principal elements, a crown portion 118 and a visor portion 120. Crown portion 118 forms a generally hemispherical covering for a head of an individual, and visor portion 120 extends outward in a generally horizontal direction from crown portion 118 to shade the face and eyes of an individual. The materials forming crown portion 118 extend entirely around a circumference of the head to provide size adjustable sports cap 100 with the appearance of a fitted cap that accommodates an individual with specific head dimensions. Size adjustable sports cap 100, however, incorporates an adjustment system that provides a stretchable or adjustable configuration to accommodate individuals with various head dimensions, as will be described in greater detail below.

Crown portion 118 includes a plurality of panels 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112 that are attached together along by sides. More specifically, crown portion 118 includes two front panels 110 and 112 that are located adjacent to visor portion 120, two side panels 102 and 108 that are located on a left side and a right side of the size adjustable sports cap 100, respectively, and two back panels 104 and 106 that are located in a back area of size adjustable sports cap 100.

It can be observed that when each of the individual panels is secured together, they form a lower head receiving opening. Each of the panels 102 and 108 are preferably formed of a stretchable elastic material, such as spandex, vinyl, or nylon, or a combination of these and cotton, and can include an elastic band 122 and 124 enclosed within or stitched to the elastic material along the lower circumference of the sports cap 100. Alternatively, the band could be a snap-together band 126 and 128 stitched along the lower circumference of the sports cap 100 and could be adjustable using a plurality of slots which are engagable with one of a plurality of protuberances. Even more preferably, the rest of the panels, of front and back portion 104, 106, 110 and 112 are formed by heavier non-elastic or near non-elastic material, such as firm, sturdy or, stated differently, a thick, sturdy cotton base or acrylic or a combination of the two. The front and back portion 104, 106, 110 and 112 would not include an elastic band. The size adjustable sports cap is more comfortable if worn reversibly. The front and back portion of the cap is better suited than traditional ball caps to attach advertising marks or different logos for good appearance and marketing purposes.

Thus, there has been illustrated and described a unique and novel size adjustable sports cap, which thereby fulfills all of the requirements and advantages which have been sought. It should be understood that many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which will become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-discussed embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

Plural instances may be provided for components, operations or structures described herein as a single instance. Finally, boundaries between the various components are somewhat arbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall within the scope of the inventive subject matter. In general, structures and functionality presented as separate components in the exemplary configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single component may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of the inventive subject matter. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A size adjustable sports cap in which the head receiving opening thereof is adapted to fit a multitude of head sizes, said sports cap comprising: a crown having top, front, back and side portions and having a symmetrical open bottom having a circumferential portion; the crown of said sports cap further comprises two triangular panels in the front portion and two triangle panels in the back portion, wherein the panels in the back and front are made from non-elastic or essentially non-elastic materials; and the crown of said sports cap further comprises two triangular panels in each side portion, wherein the side portion is made of elastic materials.
 2. The size adjustable sports cap of claim 1 wherein crown of said sports cap extends forwardly therefrom at the lower margin of said cap crown.
 3. The size adjustable sports cap of claim 1 wherein said triangular panels of front and back portion are made from heavier material such as cotton.
 4. The size adjustable sports cap of claim 1 wherein said triangular panels of side portions are made from elastic materials from at least one of spandex or nylon.
 5. The size adjustable sports cap of claim 1 wherein said triangular panels of side portions include an elastic band along the circumferential portion.
 6. The size adjustable sports cap of claim 1 wherein said triangular panels of side portions include a snap-together band along the circumferential portion.
 7. The size adjustable sports cap of claim 1 wherein said top portion of the size adjustable sports cap secures all the panels of top, back, and side portions.
 8. The size adjustable sports cap of claim 1 wherein said crown portions are secured to one another by stitched retaining panels. 